MinnesotaCare

3.2.1.1 Citizenship (Archive)

In order to receive MinnesotaCare, applicants must be U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals or certain lawfully present noncitizens. See the MinnesotaCare Lawful Presence policy for more information.

U.S. Citizen

A U.S. citizen is someone who is born in the U.S. (including U.S. territories, except for American Samoa) or who was born outside the U.S. and who either:

• Was naturalized as a U.S. citizen

• Derived citizenship through the naturalization of his or her parent(s)

• Derived citizenship through adoption by U.S. citizen parents, provided certain conditions are met

• Acquired citizenship at birth because he or she was born to U.S. citizen parent(s)

• Became a U.S. citizen by operation of law

U.S. National

A U.S. national is someone who is a U.S. citizen or owes permanent allegiance to the U.S. With extremely limited exceptions, all noncitizen U.S. nationals are people born in American Samoa or people born abroad with one or more American Samoan parents under certain conditions.

Verification

Citizenship may be verified electronically at the time of application through a data match with the Federal Data Services Hub ( FDSH) or the Social Security Administration (SSA). This is the preferred method of verifying citizenship for MHCP applicants and enrollees. The county, tribal, or state agency must attempt and exhaust all trusted electronic sources prior to requiring paper documentation from the enrollee. Only  applicants and enrollees whose U.S. citizenship or U.S. national status cannot be verified electronically must provide proofs.

Eligibility must be  approved for applicants who meet all other eligibility criteria and attest to meeting the citizenship eligibility requirements. A person approved for MinnesotaCare whose citizenship cannot be electronically verified  has a reasonable opportunity to work with the agency to resolve clerical discrepancies preventing electronic verification or to provide proof. A notice must be sent to the enrollee to indicate they have 90 days, plus 5 days for mailing, from the date of the notice to satisfy the request.

The 95-day reasonable opportunity period can be extended for MinnesotaCare enrollees who demonstrate a good faith effort  to get and provide the necessary proof of their citizenship. Enrollees who need more time to obtain documents must receive a notice that tells them the new due date. There is no limit to the number of times the reasonable opportunity period can be extended for a MinnesotaCare enrollee to obtain proof of citizenship. Eligibility and coverage must end with a 10-day advance notice if the enrollee fails to provide verification or assist in the verification process by the end of the reasonable opportunity period or any extension.

During the reasonable opportunity period, the county, tribal or state servicing agency must continue efforts to complete verification of an applicant’s citizenship. This includes correcting errant demographic data, re-running electronic sources and checking case records and files for prior instances of successful electronic verification or citizenship documentation received previously. The agency must document efforts to verify an applicant’s citizenship during the reasonable opportunity period in the case record. The agency must also help applicants and enrollees obtain required paper proofs.

Once citizenship is verified, county, tribal and state servicing agencies cannot request proof again, unless an agency possesses inconsistent information regarding a person’s citizenship status.

A person who reapplies for health care coverage, whose citizenship was not previously verified, must be given a new reasonable opportunity period to provide proof of citizenship.

Paper Proof of Citizenship

Applicants and enrollees who must provide proof because citizenship could not be electronically verified can submit a copy of one of the following to verify U.S. citizenship:

• U.S. passport, including a U.S. Passport Card issued by the Department of State, without regard to any expiration date as long as such passport or card was issued without limitation

• Certificate of Naturalization

• Certificate of Citizenship

• Valid Minnesota Enhanced Driver's License or Enhanced Identification Card

• Documentary evidence issued by a federally recognized Native American Tribe  which identifies the tribe that issued the document, identifies the individual by name, and confirms the individuals membership, enrollment or affiliation with the tribe. These documents include a tribal enrollment card, A Certificate for Degree of Indian Blood; a Tribal census document; or documents on tribal letterhead, issued under the appropriate tribal official.

Applicants and enrollees can also verify citizenship by submitting a copy of one document from each of the following two lists:

• List 1

  • U.S. public birth certificate or other birth document

    • The birth record document may be issued by a State, Commonwealth, Territory, or local jurisdiction.

    • For people born in Minnesota, birth records can only be obtained by sending the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) the Minnesota Birth Record Application form. For people that were born in another state, birth records can be obtained directly from the state of birth.

  • An electronic data match with a State vital statistics agency can substitute for a List 1 document. Electronic Verification of Vital Events (EVVE) is a web-based system that requests birth records for the purpose of verifying U.S. Citizenship for Minnesota and other participating states. Nineteen states are currently participating in the EVVE program.

    Note that EVVE does not verify identity; therefore, an item from List 2 must still be provided with the EVVE.

  • A Certificate of Report of Birth, issued to U.S.. citizens born outside of the U.S.; or Report of Birth Abroad of a U.S. citizen

  • Certification of Birth in the U.S.

  • U.S. citizen ID card

  • Northern Marianas Identification Card issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security

  • American Indian card (I-872) from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security

  • Final U.S. adoption papers that show the child's name and a U.S. place of birth, or if an adoption is not final, a Statement from a State-approved adoption agency that shows the child's name and U.S. place of birth

  • Papers showing U.S. government employment before June 1,1976

  • U.S. Military Record of Service showing U.S. place of birth

  • Documentation that a child meets the requirements of section 101 of the Child Citizenship Act of 2000

  • Medical records showing a U.S. place of birth

  • Life, Health or other insurance company record showing a U.S.  place of birth

  • Official religious record recorded in the U.S. showing that the birth occurred in the U.S.

  • School records, including pre-school records, Head Start and daycare showing the child's name of U.S. place of birth

  • Federal or state census record showing U.S. citizenship or U.S. place of birth

  An affidavit can be used in lieu of a List 1 proof, if citizenship cannot be verified electronically and the person does not have any List 1 documents

• List 2

  The following are accepted as proof of identity, as long as the document has a photograph or other identifying information sufficient to establish identity, including (but not limited to) name, age, sex, race, height, weight, eye color, or address:

  • State driver’s license or state ID card

  • School ID card

  • U.S. military ID card or draft record

  • Military Dependent's ID Card

  • For a person under age 19:

    • School records including pre-school or day care records

    • Clinic, doctor or hospital records

    • Two other documents containing consistent information that corroborates a person's identity.

  • Finding of identity from a federal or State government agency

  An affidavit can be used in lieu of List 2 proof, if citizenship cannot be verified electronically and the person does not have any List 2 documents.

Legal Citations

Code of Federal Regulations, title 42, section 435.945

Code of Federal Regulations, title 42, section 435.949

Code of Federal Regulations, title 42, section 435.952

Code of Federal Regulations, title 42, section 600.305

Code of Federal Regulations, title 42, section 600.345

Code of Federal Regulations, title 45, section 155.305

Code of Federal Regulations, title 45, section 155.315

Minnesota Statutes, section 256L.04, subdivision 10

Published:  June 1, 2020

Archived: March 1, 2021